Faith, Betrayal, Love
by Marie1125
Summary: Emily never expected for her feelings for Daniel Grayson to turn out to be so real. What will happen when she decides she needs to reassess her plans? What happens when she gets news that will change everything? Will she reveal to Daniel her true identity? How will he react? You'll have to read to find out.
1. First Encounters

I never expected to fall for Daniel Grayson. He was supposed to just be a means to an end, my way into the Grayson family so that I cold exact my revenge on them for what they did to my father.

Maybe I should back this story up and explain to you who I am and why I hate the Grayson family. My name is Amanda Clarke but for the majority of this story you will hear me referred to as Emily Thorn. When I was 9 years old the Grayson family namely Victoria and Conrad framed my father for the downing of Flight 197. My father was convicted and sent to prison and I was forced to spend my childhood being bounced around from foster home to foster home, because nobody wanted to raise the child of a terrorist. For a while I still believed in my father's innocence but as I read and heard the media coverage of the case it became harder to keep that faith. I ended up in a juvenile detention center after burning down one of my foster homes. I stayed there until my 18th birthday. Upon my release I met Nolan Ross. He's the man who helped me renew my faith in my father's innocence. You see my father before he was framed invested in Nolan's company and so in return Nolan visited my father while he was imprisoned. And when my father was murdered in a courtyard brawl Nolan took all of my father's journals and held onto them for me. When I was released from juvie Nolan handed me a box filled with all of my father's journals that explained what he think happened to him, how it happened and everybody he believed was involved. Nolan also handed me information to a bank account that held $500million dollars, the equivalent to the 49% stock my father owned of Nolan's company after he invested in it.

After receiving the box and the money, after finding out about how my father was framed I went off to plan a path of revenge, starting with switching identities with my juvie bunkmate, Emily, after her release. From there I trained in Japan in martial arts so that I could always get out of messy situations no matter what.

After my training I moved into the beach house my father used to own in t Hamptons. The beach house was directly next to the Grayson beach mansion and owned by one of the many people who knew my father was framed but did nothing. Lydia Davis, who I knew to be sleeping with Conrad Grayson. So after outing her and getting her socially exiled from the Hamptons I bought and moved into my old house.

While on the Grayson yacht for their annual Memorial Day kick off the summer event I "accidentally" spilled my drink on Daniel Grayson's jacket. As I hoped he was a real gentleman about it and he got me a new drink. After he returned with my new drink we started talking, small talk, corny jokes nothing too serious but then he let his guard down just a bit and allowed me to see the real Daniel. While my internal reaction to that should have set off my first warning signal I held onto the moment.

"You don't drink?" I asked knowing the reasons why he didn't. "Used to… Epically." He replied looking somber for just a brief moment before adding " I forgot what it was like to be with somebody who doesn't already know the old me" and he flashed me a dimpled smile. "I know what you mean" I smiled back before we were joined by his parents.


	2. Warning Signs and Red Flags

The next time I saw Daniel Grayson was at a charity polo match he was competing in. I made sure that I said hello to his parents and that they, especially his mother, saw me with Daniel. I even flirted with him. When his mother invited me over for teat the next day I knew that my plan was working.

In the middle of tea Daniel came in all sweaty after a run. He was shocked to see me there having tea with his mom. While I tried to ignore the wave of lust that stormed my body at the sight of him all sweaty and rippling muscles. "Emily hey, what are you doing here?" he asked intrigued. "You mom invited me for tea" I replied and Victoria added "Daniel for goodness sakes pull yourself together you're a sweaty brute!" Daniel chuckled and said "My apologies had I known you were going to be here I would have looked 50% less brutish." I laughed and stood up as I replied "No it's fine. I actually have to get going" He nodded his head "Listen how about I make good on that date? How's tomorrow?" he asked hopefully. "That sounds wonderful" I replied before turning to Victoria "Thank you so much for tea Mrs. Grayson I've so enjoyed this." "Here let me walk you out" Daniel said moving with me towards the door.

The next day on our date Daniel and I had a picnic on the beach. We had more meaningful conversations than before. I told him about my parents (real Emily's parents) and how they had died in an accident when I was a little girl. He told me about how his future had been mapped out for him since he was born. He walked me back to my front door and when he leaned in to kiss me I felt butterflies. That should have been a red flag for me, but I pushed them aside and I relished in the kiss in its innate sweetness, its gentleness and the tender way Daniel stroked my cheek with his thumb. "Goodnight Emily" he whispered in my ear before pulling away. "Goodnight Daniel" I smiled trying to ignore the flutter of butterflies coming from within me.

The next few months were filled with more dates and more takedowns. I took down a man named Bill Harmon, a man who claimed to be my father's friend, and man I called Uncle Bill as a child. He helped the Grayson's frame my father and so I planted a fake trade rumor and watched as he destroyed his company and his life in just a few short hours.

My dates with Daniel progressed with him revealing more of himself to me than I had hoped he would. He told me about how last summer after drinking too much and an argument with his mother he wrapped his car around a pole resulting in the crushing of his girlfriend at the time's spine. "Oh my god." I replied sounding shocked though I actually already knew about the accident. "She wasn't paralyzed but she is still in rehab. You must think I'm a terrible person." He said somberly. "No. I think it takes an incredibly brace person to own up to their mistakes. Do you know where she is?" I asked "Yeah my parents set her up and covered her medical expenses. Why do you ask?" he answered. "Maybe you should go talk to her." I said knowing in my heart that he'd go, but also that he needed to go for some closure and peace of mind. What I didn't expect was his next question. "Would you go with me? I don't think I could do it alone and my family would just try to talk me out of it. The hope in his eyes when he asked me, made me realize that he was nothing like his parents, and I think it was the first time I truly let my guard down. "Of course I'll go with you, but I think it'd be best if I stayed in the hallway when you talk to her she doesn't need some strange woman standing in her room next to the man she once had feelings for. "I said placing my hand on his. "I'll pick you up at 7:30. "He said twining his fingers with mine. "I'll be ready." Came my reply as I leaned in to kiss him. This kiss was like our first one in the sense that it was gentle and sweet, but there was a sense of urgency in this once. Like we were afraid we'd lose each other and this moment forever. "That was great, but I better get going. I'll see you in the morning." Daniel said breathlessly after pulling out of the kiss. "Goodnight Daniel" I said before walking him to my door then running my fingers through his hair and kissing him one last time. "Goodnight Emily."


	3. Apologies and Promises

That night I tossed and turned and got very little sleep. Deep down I knew it was because my feelings for Daniel were just that, feelings. I had spent years training to keep my feelings at bay. After hours of tossing and turning I decided sleeping was futile so I got up and dressed for a long run on the beach. After my run I sat on the porch swing, my father had built for me when I was a girl, and sipped my coffee and watched the sunrise.

A little while later I went inside and got ready for my day with Daniel. He knocked on my door right at 7:30 wearing khaki pants and a navy sweater that clung to his rippling muscles in just the right way. "Good morning Ems, you look amazing. Who knew you could make casual look so good?" he said smiling at me as I locked my door. I was wearing a black and white halter dress and sandals. "Thank you! You look pretty good yourself. How are you feeling?" I asked genuinely curious about what he was feeling going into the stressed filled day ahead. "Nervous as hell" he replied taking my hand as we walked to his car.

We drove the 2 hour journey to the rehab facility, and I tried to fill the time with small talk but I could see that, that wasn't helping. So I took his free hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze before asking "Do you want to practice what you're going to say?" He stole a quick glance at me and smiled before taking a deep breath and saying "Sara I'm sorry that it's taken me almost a whole year to muster up the courage to come and see you. I know this is probably too little too late… But I just want you to know how sorry I am that I did this to you. That I risked your life! I'm sorry that I didn't take a step back from my anger and booze filled haze to realize that I was in no shape to drive. I'm so sorry and I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness, and I won't insult you by asking for it. I'll just say that I hope one day you won't hate me anymore." I squeezed his hand once again and said "That was good. I'm sure seeing her for the first time in a year will be rough but just remember that I'll be in the hallway sending you positive thoughts."

We arrived at the rehab facility and found out what room Sara was in and approached her room. I kissed Daniel's cheek and whispered "Good Luck" in his ear before he entered her room. Almost immediately I could hear a female voice, presumably Sara, say "What the hell are you doing here? I don't want to hear anything you have to say. GET OUT!" followed by Daniel's hushed and dejected "I'm sorry." He walked out of the room and straight into my embrace.

"Daniel I'm so sorry. I never should have suggest that we come here." I whispered. He pulled back and looked me in the eye, moved a strand of hair from my face and replied "No I'm glad you suggested it. I needed to see for myself the consequences of my actions. I didn't get to say my apologies but maybe that's for the best. It will remind me that my actions have an impact on the lives of others, even the woman I'm dating. I don't want anything like this to happen between us. I don't want you to ever hurt because of me. I don't want you to ever hate me."

We silently walked hand in hand back to the car. After Daniel got in the car he turn to me and said "I don't know how long we'll be together, a few months, a year, 10 years, forever, but I promise to always be honest with you." I don't know what came over me really except that I wanted to believe what he was saying. I wanted to believe that we could have a real relationship despite my holding back my true identity, but I pulled Daniel into a deep and passionate kiss that rocked us both to the core. "Wow" he said as we both came up for air, and then we left and headed back to the Hamptons.

When we arrived back at my beach house I asked "You don't have any plans tonight do you?" "Spending time with you I hope." He replied with that sexy dimpled grin of his. "Good. How about you come over and I'll make you dinner and maybe some dessert." I said raising my eyebrows suggestively on the word dessert. "Sounds like fun. What time would you like me to come over?" he asked smiling as I unlocked my front door. "7:00? Maybe bring some of your favorite movies and we'll have a his and hers favorite movie marathon." I said opening my door and spinning back around to face him as he said "I'll see you then." He kissed me passionately before adding "until later gorgeous" and walking back to his car.


	4. Confessions

I went inside and put on my swimsuit before going for a swim in the ocean to try and clear my head. After my swim and a shower I changed into a pair of dark wash jeans and a white lacy top. I left my hair down and curly, and put on some makeup. Then I went downstairs and started preparing dinner, cleaning vegetables, boiling water, mixing ingredients.

Daniel knocked on my door at 7:00 and when I opened the door I saw him standing there, dressed in jeans and a grey v-neck t-shirt, holding a bouquet of red roses in one hand and a stack of dvds in the other. Wow! You look amazing" he said kissing me gently. As he walked inside he added "these are for you" and handed me the bouquet of roses. "Thank You!" I said walking to the kitchen and putting the flowers in a vase.

"Smells great in here what are you making?" he asked sniffing the air. "Garlic butter shrimp scampi over linguine, a garden salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing and Italian bread with an olive oil and basil dipping sauce" I answered taking note of his surprised face. "Where'd you learn to cook?" he asked. "Well I spent some time in Paris and picked up a few tricks there but mostly I just like to try new things and see what happens." I answered moving to take the linguine out of the pot it was cooking in and draining the water from it. "Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked. "If you wouldn't mind taking the salad and bread to the table I'll follow behind with the main course in just a sec." I answered mixing in the shrimp scampi.

After placing dinner on the table and sitting next to Daniel I asked "How are you? Did you tell your parents you went to see Sara?" "I'm ok. I think. And no I didn't not tell my parents, they would just freak out and I don't really want to deal with that. I mean I get enough flak from my dad about my lack of dedication to the internship at Grayson Global and my mom about dating you because she hasn't done a thorough enough background check on you don't be surprised if she asks you for a blood sample and maybe even a CT to check for triple sixes on your skull." He answered. "You're joking?" I said nervously. "yes, well about the blood test and triple sixes but she will probably have her PI do a background check on you." He answered.

I took a deep breath and said "Well I guess in an act of full disclosure I should share some of my past with you so your mother can't use it against me." He took my hand in his and said "You're kind of scaring me." "After my parents died I was placed in foster care. I was bounced around from home to home and when I was 15 I was placed in a home where my foster father abused me. At first it was just emotional and physical abuse but one day I came home from school and he tried to sexually abuse me, but I put a stop to it and was placed in Allenwood, a maximum security juvenile facility." I told him, the story being part mine and part real Emily's.

Daniel's breath caught when I first mentioned the word abuse followed by anger when I said sexual abuse and then utter shock at taking things into my own hands. "I understand if you want to walk out that door and never look back but it's hard for me to open up about my past. But if things are going to progress in this relationship you need to know about my past. Especially the dark side… Please say something." I said nervously.

"I'm sorry" he started and I cut him off before he could continue. "That's fine, I figured once you found out you'd just run off" tears began streaking down my face. "It's probably best if you go now, dragging out awkward conversation over dinner would just hurt too much." "Emily! I'm not sorry because I can't handle what you just told me, I'm sorry that you had to go through all that. I'm sorry that you didn't have the kind of life you deserved. I'm sorry you ever experienced any of that hurt and pain." Daniel said wiping the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs before pulling me into a soft and romantic kiss.


	5. Dreaming and Falling

We finished dinner and then curled up on the couch for our his and hers favorite movie marathon. "I can't believe one of your favorite movies is the Goonies!" I said in mock exasperation. "What? It's a good movie" Daniel protested. "Yeah if you're a 7th grader!" I replied before bursting out in squealing laughter because Daniel was tickling me.

"Stop! Daniel Stop it!" I squeal and then he was on top of me and we were gazing into each other's eyes and I was pulling him down and into a scorching hot and passionate kiss. Then we were making out and clothes were being tugged at.

"Daniel… Let's take this upstairs." I whispered between kissed. "Are you sure?" he asked looking me in the eyes trying to read them for any signs that I was unsure. "More than anything in my life." I answered honestly. So I grabbed his hand and led him upstairs to my bedroom where we resumed our makeout session and followed it up with a passionate night of love making.

I woke up the next morning with Daniel's arms wrapped around me. I turned around in his arms to face him. "How is it you wake up looking this gorgeous?" Daniel asked. "I don't! You're just half asleep." I laughed. "Mmm then come here I like this dream" he replied pulling me closer and reigniting the passion we shared last night.

After another hour spent in bed we got up and I made us some egg white omelets. After breakfast we shared coffee on the porch swing listening to the waves crashing on the beach. "Can we just live in this moment forever?" No work, no pasts, no negativity, no complications. Just me, you, the waves, and the memories of last night playing through our minds." I asked leaning my head on Daniel's shoulders. He grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips before saying "last night was perfect. But the parts you want to exclude, those are part of what makes us who we are." His response shocked me and caused my heart to skip a beat. That was when I realized that I was in love with Daniel Grayson.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for your internship?" I asked getting up and going back inside." "What's wrong?" Daniel asked confused following me. "Nothing but you have to get ready for work and I have a charity board meeting I have to get ready for." Daniel let out a sigh of frustration before running a hand through his hair and kissing my cheek. "Can we talk about this tonight? My parents anniversary dinner is tonight, be my plus one?" he asked hopefully. "Ok! Just let me know what time to get there." I answered and he left.

I spent the rest of my day trying to reel in my thoughts and emotions, but to no avail. I was struggling with my feelings for Daniel and my plan for revenge. _Could I give up my revengenda for a life of happiness with Daniel. Even though it would mean watching Victoria and Conrad getting to spend their lives plotting to get everything they want._ I didn't think I could go through with my revenge and handle Daniel hating me for destroying his family.


	6. Fear and Running

I went to the Grayson's that night planning on picking a fight and asking Daniel if we could take a break but when I got there and saw Daniel standing there in his suit my heart yearned for him and for a moment I thought that I could find another way to work it all out. "You look beautiful" Daniel said taking my hand and leading me into the dining room. We enjoyed a semi-tense dinner with his parents (who were fighting) and his sister who was rebelling.

After dinner we went for a walk on the beach. "Do you want to tell me why you were pushing me away this morning?" Daniel asked stopping and pulling me so that we were standing face to face. "Nothing… It's just… I'm scared" I said promptly looking down to stare at the sand. Daniel placed his finger under my chin and guided my face back up to look at him. "Scared of what?" he asked.

"I'm scared because I'm falling in love with you, and I never expected to come here and feel like this." I answered tears prickling my eyes. "Other than when I was a young girl I've never really been in love or felt love from another person. And I'm afraid of letting myself fall completely in love with you and then have you ripped away from me" I continued as the tears started to spill from my eyes. "I couldn't bare it if you ever left me or were taken away from me." I finished before running off back to my house. I got as far as my porch swing before falling to my knees and completely breaking down.

Not long after I fell to my knees Daniel pulled me up, wrapped me up in a warm embrace, and whispered in my ear "I'm falling in love with you too." I pulled back to look at him and he continued "I can't promise that I won't be ripped away from you tragically like your parents but I can promise that I won't leave you." "You can't promise me that! Not when you don't know who I really am!" I cried pulling out of the embrace, unlocking my front door, going inside, slamming the door shut, and locking it behind me.

I ran to my bedroom and threw myself onto my bed. I could hear Daniel knocking on my door but I ignored him. _What was I thinking letting my guard down and letting myself fall in love with him!? How am I supposed to fulfill my plan if I'm letting my feelings for Daniel get in the way? I can't tell him the truth he'd never forgive me… unless… no! no! he'd never turn against his own family. I have to end it with him!But how can I exact my revenge from outside the Grayson family. Maybe I should just forget it and pack up and leave in the middle of the night. _The thoughts raced through my mind.

Eventually Daniel left and I began packing my enough clothes to last me at least a month I needed to get away to regroup. I booked a flight to Paris and packed my box that held my father's journals, and walked to my car and loaded my bags into my trunk.

"So that's it! You're just going to disappear in the middle of the night without talking this out?" Daniel's voice came from behind me. I shut my trunk took a deep breath and said "I thought you left!" "No I just sat on the porch swing. Hoping you'd come out and talk to me. Ems whatever is it we can work this out" he pleaded coming to stand in front of me. "It's not that simple Daniel. Just let me go. Don't follow me, don't look for me, just let me go and move on with your life." I sighed looking Daniel in the eyes and seeing the pain, anger, and confusion flash through them.

"Were you lying when you said that you're falling in love with me?" he asked. I placed a hand on Daniel's cheek and said "I meant every word, but we can't be together. It's too complicated! I'm leaving because I'm falling in love with you. If I stayed I'd only destroy your life and you don't deserve that. Just promise me that you'll stay true to who you are. That you won't let anyone or anything change you. Promise me that you will be your own man." I said hoping he'd make these promises and mean them. "I don't understand why you're doing this Emily" he said and I got in my car and drove off with tears in my eyes.


End file.
